Introduction
Jack Smith (May 24, 1924 in Metropolis, Illinois – October 17, 2001 in Spartanburg, South Carolina) was an American stock car racer. He raced in the very first NASCAR race ever in 1949 and is a member of the NMPA Hall of Fame in Darlington, South Carolina.
Biography
Smith moved to Georgia when he was two years old. He worked at a service station in the 1940s near Roswell. He began racing against local bootleggers on rough dirt tracks and asphalt superspeedways, and across fields. He began racing in 1947 after building a car.
He made his debut in NASCAR's first race in 1949 at the Charlotte Speedway and finished 13th. He is remembered for flipping his car five times and rolling into the parking lot at a 1958 race at Darlington. He won the NASCAR's Most Popular Driver Award in 1959; although he tied Junior Johnson in the initial voting, a second ballot was opened that Smith won. He went to win 21 races over the next 14 years.
In 1960, he and team owner Bud Moore became the first to communicate via two-way radio.
He died from congestive heart failure in 2001.